V-Day: (M-Day #4) (3 page)

Sometimes I wondered what the point was. It was hard not to get bogged down from the day-to-day hardships of living in a post-apocalyptic world. Months felt like years, time seemingly endless and yet still passing in the blink of an eye. So many lives lost
—
lives that were so much more important than mine, at least in my opinion. It was hard to keep going sometimes.

I remembered thinking how surreal everything felt when 9/11 happened and The World Trade Center collapsed. I
’
d been just a kid and it was the first time I
’
d witnessed something so huge in my lifetime. This horrible tragedy happened in one part of the world and in other parts
…
life just continued on normally. People could hide or pretend it didn
’
t affect them if they wanted to. And for a lot of people, it didn
’
t affect them, not really. Things were different after Men-V swept the world. For the first time in maybe ever, the world sort of
…
stopped. Everyone was forced to face the new reality. There is no such thing as hiding from an apocalypse.

Ty had always been the glass is half full twin, and without him, it was hard not to think the glass hadn
’
t been drained completely with no refills in sight. Even if I found my brothers alive, Ty and Zee both, the chances that they hadn
’
t been infected were slim. There was a very real chance that I
’
d have to put a bullet between both sets of their ice blue eyes and then watch them burn. And Riley
—
No. I can
’
t let myself think about him. Not him.
I
’
d thought I
’
d lost him before, but there had always been a chance, a glimmer of a hope that maybe one day
…
No. I can
’
t allow myself to think about it because now one day will never come.
I could somehow bring myself to at least think about the possibility of my brothers being infected, but with Riley
…
I stuffed the idea into that box in my head, knowing I couldn
’
t cope with it.

My feet had carried me into the kitchen while my thoughts wandered. I glared down at the empty KitKat wrapper on the counter, wondering how it got there before stuffing it in my pocket, an irrational flood of emotions washing over me. My mind rolled over the last time I
’
d seen my friend, Doctor Greensley, alive. How many times would I replay everything in my head before I finally let it go?
Never. I
’
ll never be able to let it go because I could have stopped it. If only I
’
d talked. I
’
d known something was wrong in my gut. I
’
d known and yet I
’
d done nothing. Absolutely nothing. His erratic behavior wasn
’
t just another secret. I wasn
’
t helping him by keeping it
…
so why did I?

“
What the fuck? A little help here, Vi!
”
I whirled around just in time to see my friend and teammate, Tony, slammed into a marble counter beside me. A rather large specimen of an infected man was on top of him a mere blink of an eye later. Tony was a built guy, short and stocky, with muscles stacked on top of muscles, but the attacking infected man dwarfed him.

Before I could make a move in Tony
’
s aid, the infected monster stilled, his head swiveling in my direction, his nostrils flaring. A lecherous grin spread across his bloody face as he completely forgot Tony and turned to stalk me instead.
Shit
. I fumbled for the handgun I had strapped to my thigh.
“
I
’
m thinking I
’
m going to be needing the help here in a second.
”
My voice wavered with nerves. No matter how many times I came face to face with one of the infected, and how many times I
’
d taken one down, having one
’
s full, undivided attention was a little unnerving to say the least.

The thing
’
s nostrils flared again, but more demonstratively.
“
You smell good. Like sex,
”
it growled.

Sadly, it wasn
’
t the first time I
’
d heard one of the sex-crazed creatures utter those very words to me. It served its purpose in firing me up, all nerves dissipating in the wake of the feminine indignance that flooded my system.
“
And you
’
re about to smell like death,
”
I snapped in response. I raised my gun, glancing to make sure I
’
d remembered to click off the safety
—

I gasped as blood, brain, and pieces of skull splattered all over the front of me, shockingly warm. I wiped at the gore, tilting my head to squint through my dripping lashes. I tried not to breathe in the coppery scent of blood, even though I tasted it on my tongue when I involuntarily licked my lips.
Just don
’
t think about what it is.

Tony grinned.
“
Whoops.
”
He laughed.
“
His head exploded like a ripe melon. I mean
—”
He laughed again.
“—
I shot him at an angle to make sure I didn
’
t hit you so don
’
t look so pissed off.
”
He shrugged and flicked his gaze away from mine.

I reached into my vest pocket to produce the small waterproof container that held my matches.
“
Here.
”
I tossed it to Tony.
“
You can take care of the rest then. I
’
m going to go clean myself up before this mess dries.
”
I swiveled on my heel.
“
I just took a fucking shower,
”
I growled under my breath, as I slid across the linoleum floor, leaving bloody footprints in my wake. Not that it really mattered. No matter how much I scrubbed, I was dripping in metaphorical blood
—
the blood of all the people I could have saved and didn
’
t.

I would never truly be clean.

“
Where did it come from? I thought we
’
d cleared the building? It doesn
’
t make me feel good knowing I was naked and in the shower while one of those things was running around in the house.
”
Emilio scowled at Tony and me.
“
That
’
s like a scene right out of a horror movie.
”
He shuddered and crossed his arms over his chest.
“
Now I
’
m traumatized. And because of it I might not ever shower again. The two of you are just going to have to deal with my B.O. powered fragrant aroma.
”

“
Stop being so dramatic. Who
’
s the chick here anyways?
”
Tony snapped.

“
Ummm
…
Hello? I
’
m not cool with you insinuating that women
—”

“
I don
’
t need another one of your feminist diatribes
—”

I kicked Tony in the shin, effectively shutting him up.
“
Post-apocalyptic world does not equal a non-feminist world. As I was saying
…
I
’
m not cool with you insinuating that women are always the weak ones. I
—”

“
Who
’
s insinuating?
”
Tony grated as he rolled up his pant leg to check the damage my steel-toed boot had done.
“
Did you really have to kick me? Seriously, how old are you?
”

“
Oh, waaaah, who
’
s the weak one again? Huh, big ole
’
whining man-baby? Did my wittle foot hurt you?
”
I smirked.
“
Go cry me a river.
”

A high-pitched bark stole my attention. The three of us were on our feet, guns drawn, and prowling towards the back door where the noise had come from.

“
Sounded like a dog,
”
Emilio muttered.

Sure enough, as if conjured by his words, a small scruffy face appeared at the door. It peered through the screen, dark luminescent eyes studying us as we studied him. My heart squeezed. I hadn
’
t seen a pet of any kind in a long while. That part I wasn
’
t exactly sure about. Where had they all gone? I didn
’
t think the virus had affected anything besides humans, but things like Men-V had a way of getting out of control
—
changing and mutating into something completely new and unknown. Sometimes it seemed like the animals had just packed up and left, sensing that the shit was about to hit the fan before the humans had a clue.

I dropped into a crouch and cooed,
“
Hey there little guy. Want some food?
”

“
Don
’
t let that thing in here,
”
Tony growled.

“
Why the hell not?
”
I was already moving towards the door to let our little visitor in.

“
He could
—
have fleas or something.
”

I paused, narrowing my eyes at Tony as he glowered at me.
“
And so could you.
”
Emilio laughed, causing the dog to back up a few steps.

I slowly pushed the door open, dropping back down into a crouch, and smiled.
“
Hey there
…
come on in
…”
I trailed off as the small dog, black and covered in mud, took a few tentative steps towards me. I didn
’
t want to spook him.
“
Give me a piece of jerky,
”
I said out of the corner of my mouth, reaching behind me and wiggling my fingers.

“
We can
’
t afford to share our rations with a dog,
”
Tony hissed.

I turned my head slowly, giving Tony my best death glare.
“
I could always shoot you and give him your rations. Problem solved.
”

“
Hey, no need to threaten, you know I
’
m right.
”

I turned back to the dog who was wagging its stubby little tail at me. The minute I looked into its sad brown eyes
—
I was a goner.
“
I know nothing of the sort.
”
A grin stretched across my face as the dog leapt at me, bathing me in doggy slobber.
“
I
’
m keeping him.
”

Emilio stepped forward, offering a piece of jerky. The dog snapped it up, chewing hungrily. He dipped down beside us.
“
He
’
s a cute little thing, isn
’
t he?
”
He patted the dog
’
s head gently.

“
Oh, for fuck
’
s sake,
”
Tony growled, stalking out of the room.

Ignoring him, I scooped our new little friend up in my arms. He couldn
’
t have weighed more than twenty to twenty five pounds. I crinkled my nose at his pungent aroma. I
’
d pretty much gotten used to people and things not being as
‘
fresh
’
smelling as they used to be, but even some things were a bit much for me.
“
You need a bath,
”
I cooed.

His tail stopped wagging and I laughed.